A Kenyan firm Grain Bulk Handlers Limited, Mombassa, was one among the six. They nominated a local representative, Mohammad Rajpar, a ship agent, to interact on their behalf with PQA in the bidding process. In a letter to PQA, dated October 29, 2005 the Kenyan firm authorised Mohammad Rajpar to attend the pre-bid conference scheduled for October 31, 2005.
Rajpar, on behalf of his Kenyan principals, in a joint letter with other bidders, on December 19, 2005 requested the PQA chairman to extend the tender date from January 11, 2006 by four to six months. The PQA obliged and the bidding date was extended to May 4, 2006. Three bidders, including Grain Bulk Handlers, Kenya; Portia Marine Terminal (Pvt) Ltd, UK; and Global Terminal, Pakistan submitted their offers on May 4, 2006.
NESPAK: the technical consultants to PQA - evaluated technical proposals and ranked three offerings as follows:
(1) Portia Marine Terminal (Pvt) Ltd;
(2) Global Terminal; &
(3) Grain Bulk Handler Ltd.
In the month of May, Mohammad A. Rajpar was made a member of the board of PQA by the federal government. Soon thereafter, Rajpar was named as the head of the board's development committee.
On June 8, 2006, the honourable (sic) board member held a presentation with NESPAK, the consultants and PQA management. The outcome of it: The Kenyan offer ranked last by NESPAK is now ranked as the best by the PQA management and NESPAK. A simple change of mind in an incredible scenario, but how did this happen? Your guess is as good as ours.